A Critique on
The Blank Slate, The Noble Savage and The Ghost in the Machine.There are three doctrines which have attained sacred status in modern intellectual life. The Blank Slate, a loose translation of the medieval Latin term tabula rasa, scraped tablet, commonly attributed to John Locke which delves into the opposing of political status quos and social arrangements, stating mainly that the mind is like a sheet of white paper void of all characters and ideas, furnished with words through experience; it denounced the differences seen among races, including the institution of slavery as slaves could no longer be thought of as innately inferior, ethnic groups, sexes and individuals for the differences come not from the innate constitution but from the differences in the experiences. It is indeed fitting to think of the mind that way as the mind is like a blank sheet of paper filled only through experience. Yet it is safe to say that not only experience that can fill it but also preconceptions and expectations of the society. Another doctrine is The Noble Savage, commonly attributed to philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau, inspired by the European colonists’ discovery of the indigenous in the New World; it stated the belief that savages were solitary, without ties of love or loyalty and without any industry or art. It also captures the belief that humans in their natural state are selfless, peaceable and untroubled and that negative emotions such as greed and jealousy are products of civilization, a concept which debased Thomas Hobbes’ belief that man is naturally cruel and requires a regular system of police to be resolved. Looking at it from a personal angle, I would say that I quite agree with Hobbes only on one aspect: man is naturally cruel; if he isn’t, then how is it that our history has been tainted with the blood of millions of people who have died because of a single man who could not rein his malice, i.e. Hitler. Even in our everyday life, we manage...

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...Ashley Dargin-Article # 1
Pinker, S. (2002). The blankslate. Discover Magazine, 34-40.
The BlankSlate
This study was about our concepts of human nature affects every aspect of our lives, from the way we raise our children to the political movements we embrace. Pinker in the article states, “On one side is a militant denial of human nature, a conviction that the mind of a child is a blankslate that is subsequently inscribed by parents and society.” Then he goes to explain, the modern sciences of mind, brain, genes, and evolution are showing that there is something to the commonsense idea of human nature. I do agree on parenting has a big part in how you raise your children. Pinker believed the fact that parents provide their children with genes, not just an environment. He did a study on children born to natural parents showed a better child well as, the adopted child only gets environment from their parents with no genes. He stated,” That genes make all the difference, that parenting makes all the difference, or anything in between.”
There is a phrase in article “BlankSlate” is a loose translation of the Latin term tabula rasa. This term meaning that individuals are born without built in mental content and that their knowledge comes from experience and perception. According to Pinker point, any differences we see among races, ethnic groups,...

...﻿The BlankSlate Theory
Many things we know about science today derived from scientific theories. However, not all scientific theories made were correct. Take for example Spontaneous Generation, or the scientific theory of “Bad Air”, or in this case, Tabula Rasa, or The BlankSlate theory. We all want to believe that we create our own personality with the choices we make, but are there traits in our personality inherited?
Firstly, from the book “The BlankSlate Theory: The modern Denial of Human Nature” by Steven Pinker, I quote: The BlankSlate Theory is “The idea that the human mind has no inherent structure and can be inscribed at will by society ourselves.” In other words, the idea that the human mind has no built-in characteristics and can be engrained at will by humankind or our selves. This theory argues that people are born with no built-in traits. Though, take for example your smile. Then study your mother`s, your father`s, your grandparent`s, your aunt`s, and your uncle`s. With that you will most likely find that someone in your family has your same smile. Does that mean that we all are also born with our parent`s knowledge? The answer to this question is no, not every part of our mind is molded and built at birth. For example, we choose to gain our knowledge from education, and we choose our own culture.
In conclusion, studies of twins...

...
Introduction
The purpose of this study is a brief explanation of Marxism and also how it appears in The Great Gatsby“. The Great Gatsby (1925) is generally considered to be F. Scott Fitzgerald’s finest novel.
The problem is ruler ship of higher classes on lower and worker classes of society. It is Important because the pressure of this ruler ship destroys life and also dream for the lower classes in the society.
I want to work on some critical points on this novel by Philips Northman and others, to find out how different between classes of society could damage to the people and destroy their life and dreams, and also how the story criticize or fail to critique the differences between classes of society?
From Materialism point of view this novel has some critical points about materialistic view to the life, because people ideology after world war. They pursued themselves to find ideology between matters. So this Materialistic perspective effect on individual and society and engage them to struggle to achieve more wealth.
At the end of the novel we notice how this materialistic view of life destroys their dreams.
Fitzgerald’s method of narration, illustrate the importance of form. Using Nick Carrawy as a first person narrator makes the whole novel more dramatic. As a main character in the novel, Nick becomes far more than just a...

...The Archetype of a NobleSavage
The definition of a noblesavage is a primitive human representing natural goodness and simplicity when not encumbered by civilization. When born, humans are naturally good. We are naturally benevolent and compassionate creatures and it is only through the corruption from society and others do we become immoral. The Monster consistently displays this trait by doing noble things, but by the influence of society he becomes evil and malicious. Therefore, the idea of the “noblesavage,” that all human beings are naturally good and that any evil they develop is a result of the corrupting force of civilization, is portrayed by Victor Frankenstein’s creation in Mary Shelly’s novel Frankenstein.
Frankenstein’s creation was inherently good and he showed that fact when he showed compassion towards De Lacey and his family. When the monster was first born he observed the De Lacey family. “I had been accustomed, during the night, to steal a part of their store for my own consumption, but when I found that in doing this I inflicted pain on the cottagers, I abstained and satisfied my self with berries, nuts, and roots.” (Shelly pg 107) He learned that by taking from the family, he hurt them, and he eventually began to pity them. He could have taken their food for his own personal gain but he knew that was wrong. He was never taught that it was...

...Examine in historical contexts the theme of the noblesavage in Mary Shelley's Frankenstein.
The time in which Mary Shelley was writing was one of great change both scientifically and religiously, with the movement from Enlightenment to Romanticism there was much interest in scientific subjects and other explanations of human origins than from what is described in the bible. Shelly would have been very influenced by her husband Percy Shelley, who preferred the Greek myth of Prometheus to explain our origins. As well as interest in the science and especially electricity the Romantics were also interested in nature and its endless possibilities, and the concept of the sublime. Everything during the Romantic Movement was very much to do with emotions and sensations, which is why the character of the monster would have been so much more poignant to the people reading Frankenstein. It makes him easier to relate to and to sympathise with as he is connected to nature and uses his sensations of pain and hunger to learn. This is also linked to the idea of the noblesavage and the monster as the embodiment of the idea. As the monster is at one with nature and has no immoral thoughts, he is even a vegetarian. The monster is only affected by the other vices of men once he starts to learn of the culture and no longer rely on his senses to teach him. The industrial revolution would have had a major impact on the writings of the...

...The “Noble” Savage
Over the years, people have formed many different opinions over Rousseau`s noblesavage theory. The main controversy sprouts from Rousseau`s statement that the natural human heart is good until civilization corrupts it. Golding's exploration of the Noblesavage theory has instigated theological and philosophical questions on the origin of human wickedness, as well as arguments comparing solitary and civilized human nature.
Rousseau's declaration that humans are naturally good, but become evil by the surrounding civilization, sparked the interest of many current and later philosophers. Certain men, such as Thomas Hobbes, believed that the primitive human is wicked. Richard Beck argued, “Hobbes felt that the "natural" state of man was akin to being beast-like. Thus, it is civilization that steps in and rescues humanity from our primal depravity.” Other philosophers had opinions similar to Rousseau. Shaftesbury, for example, believed in the “simplicity of manners and innocence of behaviour which has been often known among mere savages, ere they were corrupted by our commerce and by sad example.” (Mortensen, Pg. 111).In other words, he believed man is naturally innocent of brutality, and would act benevolent towards other human beings in a perfect world. William Golding demonstrates his disagreement with Rousseau in his book Lord of the Flies, and he uses the...

...﻿ The movie The Ghost in the Darkness was directed by Stephen Hopkins and produced by the Gale Hurd, A. Kitman Ho., and Paul Radin. The main actors in the movie were Val Kilmer and Michael Douglas. It was released in 1996, and I watched part of it in European History class and finished the rest of it at home. It was a color movie that showed the true story of 2 lions in the African city of Tsavo that terrorized workers and delayed the building of the Kenyan-Ugandan railroad. Most of the depictions of in the movie actually happened in real life back then.
The movie begins with the young Colonel John Patterson being assigned to build a bridge over a river to extend the African railroad. When he gets there, he meets the leaders of the camp, like Samuel, who keep order and keep the workers working on the railroad. At first, the work is going ahead of schedule and the work is going on great. But there is soon a grave turn of events; two lions start attacking the camp and kill many of the workers, and work stops on the bridge. During the rest of the movie, the lions start terrorizing the camp, and the workers refuse to work and leave Tsavo. At the end, Colonel Patterson enlists the help of Remington, and kills the two lions, after many sacrifices and many risks. Eventually, the work resumes on the bridge and everyone is happy.
The main characters in the movie were based on real people, because the movie was based on true events, and the characters, like...

...authentic and to keep it alive and useful. Salvage paradigm is used mostly in the field of ethnography, it’s a branch of anthropology that deals with the scientific descriptions of specific human cultures. We today find salvage paradigm, through representations in textbooks, art, and even to museums. Have what we have been holding on to for thousands of years ,the background of our own mankind history been the truth or a conception build overtime, using salvage paradigm to help come up with a explanation. James Clifford and Virginia Dominguez discuss the intervention of using slavage paradigm to the extent to help explain western culture roots.
James Clifford starts off with explaning that socities were sequenced as the progression from savage to barabarian to civlizied but now jumped to the conclusion that human were redistributed as primitive or tribal groups. Through out his articles he uses examples that helped build up the western culture taxonomy. Along with traditions , history and authenticity that helps underlie the salvage paradigm. Clifford mentions that non-western ethnographic are the western’s actual past. But on the other hand western cultures is consently trying to civilize and intrude on cultures and have a hard time accepting unique aspects. For example James Clifford , states that the Speik River art was meant to be inspiring. The art was isolated to emphasize their importance, there was a chant with music in the background for a...

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